@Article{BourscheidtCummPintNacc:2012:BrCa,
               author = "Bourscheidt, Vandoir and Cummins, Kenneth L. and Pinto Junior, 
                         Osmar and Naccarato, Kleber Pinheiro",
          affiliation = "{Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} and Department 
                         of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona and {Instituto 
                         Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} and {Instituto Nacional de 
                         Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)}",
                title = "Methods to overcome lightning location system performance 
                         limitations on spatial and temporal analysis: Brazilian case",
              journal = "Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology",
                 year = "2012",
               volume = "29",
               number = "9",
                pages = "1304--1311",
                month = "Sep.",
             keywords = "lightning, atmospheric electricity, data mining, data processing, 
                         data quality control, surface observations.",
             abstract = "Abstract One of the most interesting attributes of Lightning 
                         Location Systems (LLSs) data is that they can be analyzed in 
                         several ways according to the objectives of the study. However, 
                         the quality of the data is governed by the system performance and 
                         has some limitations when analyzed at different temporal/spatial 
                         scales, and these limitations will depend on the analysis method. 
                         This work focuses on approaches to minimize the variations 
                         associated with LLS performance. On this way, specific network 
                         configurations for the Brazilian Lightning Detection Network 
                         (BLDN) were obtained through the reprocessing of selected sensor 
                         data, resulting in three distinct datasets. Each dataset was then 
                         evaluated using different procedures: trimmed flash (exclusion of 
                         low-current discharges), thunderstorm days (TDs), and thunderstorm 
                         hours (THs). The comparison between TDs obtained from the LLS and 
                         TDs available from surface stations shows consistent results, with 
                         a good correlation of those datasets. An analysis of 11 years of 
                         BLDN data show also that improvement (over time) of the system 
                         sensitivity has led to the detection of an increasing number of 
                         low peak current events. By eliminating low peak current 
                         discharges (less than 19kA), the sensitivity variation was 
                         significantly reduced, partially normalizing long-term 
                         performance. TDs and THs were the most effective method to 
                         normalize temporal variations of the lightning activity, 
                         overcoming most of the network performance variations. From the 
                         spatial perspective, TDs and THs also seem to produce the most 
                         reliable lightning distribution. These results might guide 
                         long-term temporal and spatial analysis of lightning data, 
                         providing a more stable approach that is independent of system 
                         performance.",
                  doi = "10.1175/JTECH-D-11-00213.1",
                  url = "http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-11-00213.1",
                 issn = "0739-0572",
             language = "en",
           targetfile = "82113180.pdf",
        urlaccessdate = "20 set. 2024"
}